SME Finance in the Gulf: Beehive completed its majority-stake acquisition of Saudi debt crowdfunding platform Themar, positioning the group as a regulated SME financing player across the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia, and saying it has financed 3,000+ SMEs across the GCC since 2014. Digital Payments for Merchants: Visa is expanding smartphone-based payments for small businesses, turning phones into payment terminals (Visa Accept) and enabling real-time payouts (Visa Direct) without extra hardware, with rollouts expected via banks in Kenya and Ghana. Embedded Insurance for SMEs: Mashreq is baking SME insurance into its MashreqBiz app with Sukoon, letting businesses buy workmen’s compensation and third-party liability digitally in-platform. Dubai Procurement Boost: Dubai SME’s Emirati Supplier Programme helped award AED1.78bn ($480m) in contracts to Emirati SMEs in 2025, up 38% year-on-year, with government procurement topping AED1bn. Tax Digitisation Push (Pakistan): Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb urged fully digitalised taxation to cut leakages and corruption, integrate NADRA with the tax system, and support SMEs as Pakistan prepares for FY2027-28. Tech & Manufacturing (Turkey): Türk Telekom and Aselsan outlined a roadmap to develop domestic smartphones and communication devices, aiming to raise local content despite global chip pressures. Business Disruption (Turkey): Ankara’s NATO-summit “facelift” and security road closures are drawing complaints from residents and shop owners, highlighting how major events can squeeze local commerce.